Egan Bernal suffers, is still alive and with many options to rise in the general classification of Catalonia

Axel Laurance won the fifth stage of the Return to Catalonia, disputed this Friday between Altafulla and Viladecans, of 167 kilometers, in which the Slovenian, Tadej Pogacarcontinues as a leader and Egan Bernal He maintained his chances of moving up in the general classification.

The day was not calm at all, as the runners made it very difficult, getting their legs ready for this Saturday's fraction, the queen of the 2024 edition.

Without carelessness

A long getaway was the main novelty of the day and the group was made up of Oscar Rodríguez, Jacobo Mosca, Enzo Paleni, Georg Steinhauser and Christopher Juul-Jensen.

Behind, the main group accelerated as the finish line approached, so that the escapees would not have the option of defining victory at the finish line.

The packers' teams began to cut their way and they succeeded, so the stage was almost doomed for the fastest runners in the group.

Bernal was close to the best overall, without losing track of them and attentive to any movement, which is why he maintained his position within the 'Top' 10 overall.

The stage was very busy

Pogacar had another quiet day, before the final fraction. His team, the UAE Emirates, He controlled the departure of runners who would harm his leader and thus avoid many surprises.

The other Colombian cyclists ran in anticipation. Nairo Quintana taking care of the interests of their leader, Enric Mas, like Einer Rubiowho will be a key cyclist this Saturday to storm the top 10 places overall.

And since this Friday we ran with our heads set on Saturday's day, since this will take place between Berga and Queralt, 154 kilometers, with five mountain passes: one of third, another of second, one more out of category and two first, the last of them at the finish line.

Classifications

Stage

1. Axel Laurence 3h 36m 05s

2. Marijn Van der Berg mt

3. Bryan Coquard MT

26. Sergio Higuita mt

28. Einer Rubio mt

31. Tadej Pogacar mt

38. Esteban Chaves mt

45. Mikel Landa mt

56. Egan Bernal mt

58. Nairo Quintana mt

General

1. Tadej Pogacar 20h 54m 36s

2. Mikel Landa at 2 min 27 s

3. Aleksandr Vlasov at 2 min 55 sec

4. Lenny Martínez at 3 min 21 s

5. Chris Harper at 3 min 22 sec

6. Enric Mas at 3 min 24 s

7. Sepp Kuss at 3 min 31 sec

8. Wout Poels mt

9. Egan Bernal at 3 min 50 s

10. Joao Almeida at 3 min 52 s

13. Einer Rubio at 4 min 15 s

20. Nairo Quintana at 6 min 17 s